Construction is underway for the new micro-brewery at Cal Poly Pomona on Tuesday. The college is offering a new beer brewing course for students 21 and over, and may expand it if state legislators pass a bill to allow underage students to sample beer and wine in class, then spit it out.

Cal Poly Pomona offers courses in nearly everything. And soon, it will add brewing beer to its curriculum.

The university is building a microbrewery behind Peet’s Coffee and Tea on campus. It hopes to offer a couple classes this fall in the Innovation Brew Works.

The new brewery laboratory will be part of the Center for Training, Technology and Incubation. It will give students in Collins College of Hospitality and the College of Agriculture a hands-on experience in brewing and brewpub operations.

The little brewery will allow students the chance to grow custom yeast strains. They will also study the carbonation process, as well nitrogenation.

“This will be a great measure for preparing Cal Poly students because it is production based,” said Michael Godfrey, associate dean at Collins College. The students will learn firsthand how to develop many unique hop and malt blends. But in the end, it will all be about the tasty product.

That can be problematic, as students must be 21 to taste test the foamy results of their work.

But that may change soon as new legislation proposed by Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro has passed the state Senate on Monday and waits the governor’s signature. Chesbro chairs the legislature’s Select Committee on Wine.

Dubbed the “sip and spit” bill, the law would allow underage students in winemaking and brewery science programs to taste, but not swallow, the alcoholic beverages in their classes. The bill would also exempt qualified academic institutions in which the students are enrolled from criminal prosecution.

It would apply to seven California colleges that offer viticulture and enology degrees, including UC Davis, which has the biggest program. The bill has been sponsored by the UC system and supported by the CSU system as well as the Community College League of California.

“But that bill really won’t affect our program because we will still require our students to be 21 years old,” explained Michael Godfrey, associate dean at Collins College. If the bill passes, the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation may consider a change for the future.

At first, Godfrey thinks the new microbrewery will offer a certificate program in its continuing education program. So aspiring home brewmasters will also be able to learn the craft right there on campus.

“We’ll have small-scale bottling as well as kegs, so we can sell our beer from 12 taps in the cafe next door,” explained Aaron Neilson, dining services director for the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation. “Our beer will also be sold at the Collins College of Hospitality, the Farm Store, Kellogg West and Round Table Pizza.”

Innovation Brew Works plans to offer different beers appropriate to the seasons.

“We’ll even grind barley from our own fields in a mill room and have a little lab where we can grow yeasts for our different brews,” Neilson said.

During a short tour, Neilson pointed out where five bright stainless steel tanks will be installed. The 8-foot-tall tanks will hold up to 1,000 gallons of brew.

“There will also be a smaller 10-gallon system where small groups can experiment with different brewing styles,” the director added.

Godfrey launched Cal Poly’s popular Beer and Culture course more than a decade ago. The class fills up quickly every year.

The course catalogue describes it as the study of the role of beer in various cultures, as well as in food and beverage operations. The class offers a brief history of beer from Mesopotamia to present day, including the growth of micro and craft breweries, which seem to be popping up all over.

Soon Cal Poly Pomona students will be able to delve even deeper into the magic of brewing, trying their own hands at crafting a great beer.

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